Gregg Ovist of Phoenix did more
than ponder that question. He set out to build the pickup truck the luxury
automaker doesn’t, or at least his idea of what a Bentley buyer might want in a
vehicle that can tow and carry more than junk in the trunk.

Ovist has been building
custom vehicles for several years, and several of have been displayed at the SEMA Show. This year, Ovist
decided to build and show his own vehicle: a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado crew cab with some
180,000 miles on the odometer.

Ovist likes his truck so much
that when he began working on the SEMA build 14 months ago, he went out and
found another just like it to drive in the meantime. We say meantime because
after the SEMA Show and a few other special appearances scheduled for
the truck, Ovist plans to use it on a daily basis once again.

Unlike the typical SEMA pickup
truck — with a lift kit and an array of video screens in the cabin and gigantic
speakers in the bed — Ovist wanted his truck to be a luxury vehicle. Instead of big subwoofers, he opted to mount iPads in the truck’s interior,
and he even got Verizon Wireless to provide the tablets and to sponsor the build. It is
believed to be the first time the telecommunications company has been involved
in such a project.

The iPads share the truck’s
interior with black leather seating fro Roadwire, LED lighting and even the big
multipanel sunroof normally found atop a Mercedes-Benz S550 sedan.

To turn a Chevy into a Bentley,
Ovist had the truck’s paint removed and the bumpers dechromed. He shaved the
taillamps, replacing them with a red LED brake-light bar that runs the full
width of the tailgate, just below the gate’s base.

He switched out the rear
backlight to avoid the defroster lines and used bed caps off another pickup to
smooth the top edges of the Silverado’s bed.

What Ovist calls “Bentley Blue”
paint was mixed, and he used a pair of Bentley grilles, one for the standard
grille opening and the other for the lower openings.

Perhaps the only non-Bentley
aspect of the build are the 26-inch wheels that another sponsor supplied for the
project.

To make the Silverado run more
like a Bentley, an intercooled turbocharger provides a boost for the
small-block Chevy V-8.

Helping Ovist with the project
were Luis Miranda, a paint specialist, and Andy Gulick, whose House of Sound
does audio installations for customers that include several
pro athletes, many of them baseball players who come to
Phoenix for spring training.

Bentley is very protective of their inteletual property.
When an owner showing off his Bently to his passenger, pulled off the Autobahn to show him the engine, it got back to RR that they were seen pulled off the road with the "Bonnet" up.
He soon got a stern message from RR to never do that again.
It just won't do for people to think they broke down.

I saw a VW bug w/yellow Daisy wheels. These look like Sassafrass flowers to me.
I say again: There's no accountin' for taste.

Posted by: Stevadore | Nov 4, 2012 9:57:08 AM

Sales losses this month will more than be made up next month in the storm area. Many people who before the storm had no intention of buying a new BIG HORN EDITION will be forced to replace the truck they lost.

Close to 200 Ram Truck dealers gathered at the Palace of Auburn Hills to drive their first Ram 1500 Big Horn editions into showrooms across Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

Guts
Glory
Ram to the rescue!

Posted by: HEMI | Nov 4, 2012 10:19:55 AM

does tire that low of a series even need air?

Posted by: uh huh | Nov 4, 2012 10:32:13 AM

Must ride like crap !

Ugliest wheels I have seen ! Like these dolts that ruin their cars and call them Donks,just odd,very,very odd !!

Posted by: WHY !! | Nov 4, 2012 2:21:55 PM

HORRIBLE!!!! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????!!!!

Posted by: jason | Nov 4, 2012 3:17:10 PM

Ugliest truck in Chevy's history outside of the current model. It's even worse magnified like this. Just awful! I don't even understand what would possess someone to build something as tacky as this? I'll take a real truck thank you.

Posted by: KenTressler | Nov 4, 2012 4:31:06 PM

LOL!

Posted by: Gom | Nov 4, 2012 4:53:47 PM

all that truck need is to get ridd of those awful wheels and a nice lift kit with deaver springs, so it can carry a taco in the back! when it breaks down, save on the tow truck that way.

Posted by: sandman4X4 | Nov 4, 2012 10:14:02 PM

I have to agree with Stevedore

Posted by: Lou | Nov 4, 2012 11:21:51 PM

Stupid, in many colors. Buy a car.

Posted by: Living Farmville, Not Playing It | Nov 5, 2012 10:47:26 AM

That has got to be one of the ugliest trucks I have ever seen!! How do you even imagine up this crap without being doped up on heroin!! Thank our worthless gangster pop culture for this complete disgrace of all things pickup truck.

Posted by: Dan | Nov 5, 2012 5:10:01 PM

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